The past few months have been rough and exhausting. William hasn't slept well in MONTHS...which of course means I haven't slept in months. He often wakes up multiple times during the night. When he does sleep it isn't good sleep...he's very restless. He used to eat anything and everything but eating has become a HUGE challenge. He isn't growing...he's actually lost weight. His speech is delayed and his behavior is often unbearable. After everyone continued to tell me he was a just a normal toddler boy and I needed to stop worrying I finally figured out he had obstructive sleep apnea due to enlarged tonsils. I took him to his pediatrician, who agreed with me and put in a referral for speech therapy and sent us to a ENT who agreed that William's tonsils needed to come out so on Valentine's day William had surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoids.
Even though it was just a T&A, standing there watching as your child is rolled into the OR is such horrible feeling. I quit my job to stay home with William...I've never been away from him for more than a few hours at a time. If I do have to leave him he stays with his daddy or his grandparents. So, standing there watching strangers wheel my baby boy back to the OR broke my heart and scared the crap out of me. I just wanted to go with him and hold his hand through the surgery. Those 30 minutes in the waiting room were 30 of the longest minutes of my life. While we were waiting my friend Ryan (who I worked with at Children's) came to the waiting room to check on us. He knew I was worried and took the time to go into the OR and check on him...I'm not sure he realizes how much that meant and how having someone I know and trust back with my baby, even for a short time, made me worry just a little less. Soon after that the nurse came and took us back to recovery. When I walked into the recovery room I heard my baby screaming and saw him climbing and hitting the nurse. Needless to say he didn't come out of the anesthesia well. Besides the screaming and hitting he wasn't keeping his sats up so Dr. Murray decided to send him to the PICU for the night. As we rolled into the PICU the attending Ben (who I also worked with at Children's) walked out to greet us. I was relieved and knew we were in good hands. Once we got to the PICU William was a different kid. The fentanyl and lortab had obviously kicked in. He was sitting up in bed playing with his new toys, watching Veggie Tales, drinking and eating a popsicle...and within a few minutes goldfish crackers. It was obvious at this point we didn't need to be in the PICU but we were there for the night. As you can imagine keeping William in bed attached to monitors was quite a task...I'm not sure how many sets of EKG leads we went through! Once he finally feel asleep he slept pretty well...I did not! First, I couldn't hear him breathing. I know this may sound crazy but for as long as I can remember William has been a loud breather and at night the snoring is so very loud followed by an apneic period and then a loud gasp for air...but that night I couldn't hear him. Clearly this is a good thing but something that will take time to get used to. It was also impossible to sleep in a recliner that didn't recline, in a room with monitors alarming and bright lights coming through the door. I just need to say that I've always thought that the parents of the patients I used to take care of were strong and amazing people but just one night in a PICU made me realize they are much stronger than I could ever imagine! The next morning Dr. Murray and Ben saw William and agreed he looked great and was ready to go home! We spent about an hour walking around the PICU while they got us discharged and then we were out of there! It was a rough 10 days. William spent most of that time in my arms. He was in a lot of pain. I had hoped that the lortab would make him sleep through most of it but that wasn't the case. We didn't get much sleep and he didn't eat much other than ice cream. Then all of the sudden William started eating and he hasn't stopped!!! It's so good to see him eat! We are working on eating better foods and eating at meal times and not just eating snacks but HE'S EATING!!! He is also sleeping! For the past week he has slept through the night! I'm sure that sounds crazy since he's two but it's been so long since that has happened. He is also taking naps on most days. This is a huge improvement! I knew that this surgery could make a difference but I have to say I am shocked at how quickly things have changed. It's been a week since he started feeling better and and started sleeping through the night and in that week he has learned at least 5 new words, started pronouncing others he already knew better and his behavior has improved SOOO much! Who knew removing your tonsils and adenoids could change your life that much!!!
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